Thuramukham

Thuramukham is a movie that portrays the struggles of the working class in a realistic manner.

However, where the movie falls short is in its storytelling. The narrative lacks interesting twists and turns and feels more like a documentary than a feature film. The pacing is slow and at times, the movie feels like it's dragging on.

Overall, while Thuramukham has its merits in terms of its depiction of the harsh realities of life and its commendable performances, it fails to engage the audience throughout its runtime. The movie could have benefited from a tighter script and better pacing.

Better than kuttavum sikshayum.

The script of the movie was poorly written and confusing, particularly during the climax. It was difficult to understand what was happening, even if the writers were attempting to convey something meaningful about the chaapa labor system and the associated protests. Unfortunately, the writers chose to focus on a monotonous story that failed to engage the audience from beginning to end.

Despite the weak script, the actors delivered strong performances, with Poornima Indrajith standing out in particular. She played her role exceptionally well and showed a side of herself that had not been seen in any of her previous movies. Credit goes to the director for recognizing her hidden potential and bringing it out on screen.

However, the slow-paced storyline and unremarkable background music made the movie a disappointment overall. It had the potential to be a great movie, but the weak script and lackluster execution failed to do justice to the talents of the actors.

I have to say that it is the worst film I've seen in a long time. There was nothing redeeming about this one. No matter what aspect you look at, the film fails to deliver. The story is dull and uninspired. The film tries to tackle several themes, but it fails to do so with any depth or nuance, making the experience a tedious one.

I would not recommend this film to anyone, as it falls short in every aspect. I am surprised that a filmmaker like Rajeev Ravi, who has been known for his exceptional work in the past, could produce such a mediocre film. This film was a complete waste of time and I would advise others to steer clear of it and choose something more deserving of their time and attention.

Malayalam cinema from the 80s has seen a number of iterations of this same story in a more commercialized package of that time. Even though there are certain nuances and clever subversions here, giving a bit more identity than those films, those never really rise in a cinematic way to reach out to the audience effectively as it could have.

The opening black and white scenes with Joju remain the peak cinematic moments in the film. Almost every cinematic aspect was top-notch for those 10-15 minutes and everything that followed was a bit underwhelming.

Nivin's character arc is laid out in a certain way that reminds you of early iterations of such characters only to show those were films and this is something that wants to show the reality. But the problem is that after around the first hour of the film, it kind of felt a bit disjointed and all over the place.

Despite all these issues, Thuramukham is a solid film documenting the political landscape and the lives of labourers and their families in Mattanchery. There's a lot in the film that I enjoyed and a lot that I thought could have been better which could have made this film really great. I can see why someone would like it a bit more than me or doesn't like it at all.

Even at three hours, it felt evident that there's a lot more that is edited out of this movie. There were a lot of scenes and actors that felt like haven't finished their purpose. I do believe this would have been a really great miniseries with enough time to explore every aspect of it, instead of trying to cram this into three hours.

This is the best performance by Arjun Ashokan I've seen despite him being in every other Malayalam movie last year and Poornima's performance shows we're wasting a great talent by not casting her in a lot more movies. Sudev Nair was also really impressive in showing the difference between the two time periods and still being formidable throughout it.

Overall, I really enjoyed the movie but it could have been something really greater.

After watching Rajeev Ravi's long-delayed Thuramukham, I begin to wonder whether Gopan Chidambaran's script was intentionally stripped off its commercial elements and high moments, or if it was entirely the director's vision (or choice) to deliver a straightforward, realistic account of the harbor workers protest in the '50s. Whatever the case may be, Thuramukham ends up feeling half-baked. By placing its focus on Nivin Pauly's anti-hero Moidu, the screenplay dangles on slippery ground. The protagonist here is clearly Moidu's brother Hamza (Arjun Ashokan, who puts up a good show) but the writing lends him the short end of the stick. As for the unhinged, two-minded Moidu, the arc is all over the place. The cold sibling rivalry in the film is thematically similar to Chidambaran's earlier screenplay for Amal Neerad's Iyobinte Pusthakam, but that film had greater commercial inclinations, which also made it supremely enjoyable.

Thuramukham's best stretch is indeed the black & white opening act featuring Joju George, Sudev Nair, and Poornima Indrajith. When the story fast-forwards to the adulthood of Moidu and Hamza, in addition to building tedious reasons for the workers protest to gain steam, the film restrains from offering anything exciting. The performances from the ensemble remain solid throughout, but the flaccid plot developments and the lack of coherence in the treatment of Pauly's character bring the film down several notches. Additionally, the songs and the score felt so one-note (this is coming from someone who relished K's work in Kammatipaadam) and the random fade-outs in several important scenes almost took me out of the story.